The present invention relates to the purification of immunoglobulins. In particular, the invention relates to the purification of monoclonal antibodies by high performance liquid chromatography on the basis of variations in light chain structure.
Purified preparations of monoclonal antibodies are often difficult to obtain since fluids from which they are purified are frequently contaminated with antibodies of unknown specificity. Although conventional chromatographic procedures often yield purified immunoglobulin fractions as analyzed by SDS-PAGE, the presence of contaminating antibodies of the same class cannot be ruled out. Therefore, time-consuming techniques are often necessary to properly analyze purified immunoglobulin fractions. An ideal procedure for the analysis of monoclonal antibody preparations should be fast, reproducible and easy to perform. Further, it should be useful for both analytical and preparative purposes.